HeKS said: From what I can tell the color looks good. As for the arrangement ... just a thought ... I think the B&W Raiders bit is an interesting idea because of the warehouse tie in, but I wonder if putting the Orellana's Cradle scene next might disconnect the Raiders bit from the warehouse scene a little too much.
HeKs, I chose Orellana's Cradle as the first scene for three reasons:
1) It's very close to the tone and feel of the opening scene of both Raiders and my Temple of Doom edit. The pace is perfect for the credit sequence. It slowly draws you in to the movie.
2) It sets up the whole Crystal Skull plot and poses the question to the audience "What IS this thing"?
and 3) (and this is an important one) The stone spire in the graveyard is the ONLY triangular-shaped object in the entire movie that you could fade into from the Paramount logo, which is an essential thing to have....other than the "gopher mound" which I refuse to use. That was one of the stupidest things I've ever seen.
So, I appreciate your suggestions, HeKs. They're good ones, and I understand what you're saying. But, I think I'll be keeping this arrangement. It works for me. Keep in mind also, that film flow and music flow is also a big factor in making these decisions.
As far as the titles for "a few days earlier" are concerned...I'm a big fan of Oliver Stone, so I've always enjoyed mixing up the timeline on movies. Quentin Tarantino's strategy also is a big inspiration. It's all about "rate of revelation" to the audience. It's about building questions in their mind and then choosing when to let them in on the answer.
George Lucas' strategy has always been to lead the audience from point A to point B. First people talk about what they're going to do. Then we watch them do it. I try to limit that as much as possible, and for me, it makes it so much more interesting to watch. And to avoid making Indy look dumb, the audience should never know more than the main character knows, except for a few Hitchcockian exceptions. This film suffers from a lot of that. So, personally, I'd rather jump around the timeline a bit and "suffer through" a couple title cards rather than be bored to tears by an A to B to C storyline which is dull to begin with.
Imperial Fighter said:
InfoDroid, this radical re-structuring edit you are working on sounds terrific.
Good luck with this project, as a heavily re-structured version will be VERY appealing.
Thanks! And yeah, my edits are normally referred to as "radical" because, while I have respect for the material that has come previously in the series and I beleive in keeping it in the same spirit of what has come before (especially Raiders) I don't really feel the need to be restrained by the traditional Lucas template.
The way I see it, there are two kinds of fan-edits, there are those that edit annoying bits and pieces out of otherwise good movies to make them less annoying and more enjoyable. And then there are those that try to create a new experience out of the same material. Mine usually end up falling into the second category, because I enjoy the challenge of trying to be creative with it. I think, however, the world needs both kinds. I'll be the first to admit, my versions are not for everyone. People who know my edits, know to expect something different. But, then again, some people like Indy 4 except for a few scenes or whatever and that's fine...Personally, I think it's deeply, deeply, flawed and a radically bad movie calls for a radical edit. :D But, that's just my opinion.
--ID